Middle Colorado Watershed Council

14/10/2026

🎬 FILM SPOTLIGHT: The Golden Trout Project

Found in narrow, high-elevation streams of the southern Sierra Nevada, these remarkable native trout depend on a very small and vulnerable piece of the landscape.

The Golden Trout Project celebrates the anglers, agencies, volunteers and conservationists working together to protect them. After decades of work and years of planning, partners are undertaking an ambitious effort to restore Golden Trout populations across 75 miles of streams and 7,000 acres of critical headwater habitat.

It’s a story we appreciate here on the Colorado: healthy rivers start at the headwaters, native fish matter and big conservation work takes committed partners.

🌊 River Basin Sponsor: Alpine Bank

Not your everyday bank. Your bank for every day.

We’re grateful to for its longstanding support of the Middle Colorado Watershed Council and for helping us bring Wild & Scenic back to our community for the 12th year.

See The Golden Trout Project at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival:

- Oct. 24 | Ute Theater, R***e
- Oct. 29 | Glenwood Vaudeville Revue

🎟️ Tickets + event details: midcowatershed.org/events
🎬 Watch the trailer: vimeo.com/1145701806

11/10/2026

🎬 FILM SPOTLIGHT: The Detectorists

Meet Cariad: pup-in-training, conservationist and very good nose. 🦦🐾

Set in rural Wales, The Detectorists follows wildlife ecologist Lee Jenkins and his two German Pointers, Neo and Cariad, as they search for elusive otters. The dogs use scent detection to help researchers determine where to place camera traps, gathering valuable information to help protect these animals and their habitat.

Shot partly from a dog’s-eye view, this beautiful six-minute film gives us a completely different perspective on wildlife conservation — through the eyes and nose of a canine detective.

💧 A big thank you to our Groundwater Sponsors for helping us bring Wild & Scenic to our community:



See The Detectorists at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival:

📍 Oct. 24 | Ute Theater, R***e
📍 Oct. 29 | Glenwood Vaudeville Revue

🎟️ Tickets + event details: midcowatershed.org/events
🎬 Watch the trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=PzG0VqLO2_o

09/10/2026

🎬 FILM SPOTLIGHT: Native to the Klamath

What does it look like when a river begins to heal?

The Klamath River is undergoing one of the largest river restoration efforts in history. Native to the Klamath tells that remarkable story through the voices of the Indigenous people who have lived along the river for generations.

In 13 minutes, the film weaves together river restoration, traditional ecological knowledge, reconciliation and the sacred obligation of stewardship — offering a powerful look at what renewal can mean for a river and the people connected to it.

💧 A big thank you to our Tributary Sponsors for helping us bring stories like this to our community:



See Native to the Klamath at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival:

- Oct. 24 | Ute Theater, R***e
- Oct. 29 | Glenwood Vaudeville Revue

🎟️ Tickets + event details: midcowatershed.org/events
🎬 Watch the trailer: vimeo.com/1116046217

Come celebrate rivers, restoration and the people working to protect the places they call home.

06/10/2026

🎬 FILM SPOTLIGHT: Mountain Roots

Nine-year-old Bennett is already an adventurous climber. But this time, the mountains mean something more.

In Mountain Roots, Bennett travels from Wyoming to the Italian Dolomites with her climbing partner — Grandpa Gary — to visit her ancestral homeland and climb among the mountains that have shaped generations of her family.

It’s a beautiful 19-minute story about adventure, heritage, family and the landscapes that connect us to where we came from. 🏔️

🌊 A big shout-out to our Mainstem Sponsors, whose support helps bring Wild & Scenic to our community year after year:

***eImprovementTeam

See Mountain Roots at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival:

- Oct. 24 | Ute Theater, R***e
- Oct. 29 | Glenwood Vaudeville Revue

🎟️ Tickets + event details: midcowatershed.org/events
🎬 Watch the trailer: vimeo.com/1069476991/dff3a8e2e4

Come spend an evening with us celebrating wild places and the people whose lives are shaped by them.

05/10/2026

🎬 FILM SPOTLIGHT: Four Legs Forward: Strategic Grazing and Community Empowerment

Can a herd of goats help make a community more resilient to wildfire? 🐐🔥

In Oroville, California, a few motivated neighbors took what they learned at a grazing workshop and put it into action. They connected with a local goat grazer, brought their neighborhood together and began reducing wildfire fuels — work that became deeply personal when wildfire struck.

At just six minutes, Four Legs Forward is a great reminder that wildfire resilience doesn’t always start with a massive project. Sometimes it starts with a few neighbors, a good idea and, apparently, some hungry goats.

🌿 Watershed Sponsor: Logistics Technology Headquarters

Thank you to for supporting the Middle Colorado Watershed Council and helping us bring films about wildfire resilience, healthy landscapes and community action to the big screen.

See it at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival:

- Oct. 24 | Ute Theater, R***e
= Oct. 29 | Glenwood Vaudeville Revue

🎟️ Tickets + event details: midcowatershed.org/events
🎬 Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbV6RJQECIM

02/10/2026

🎬 FILM SPOTLIGHT: Beyond Beliefs

Danielle is from Cleveland. She doesn’t know how to swim. She’s terrified of water.

And she’s about to spend four days rafting the Green River through the Gates of Lodore.

In just five minutes, Beyond Beliefs captures something we love about rivers: their ability to challenge us, change our perspective and expand what we believe is possible. Follow Danielle as she faces her fear of water — and comes away with a bigger vision for her own future.

See Beyond Beliefs at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival:

- Oct. 24 | Ute Theater, R***e
- Oct. 29 | Glenwood Vaudeville Revue

🥤 Sponsor Spotlight: Swire Coca-Cola

Thank you to Swire Coca-Cola for supporting the Middle Colorado Watershed Council and helping us bring stories of rivers, wild places and remarkable people to our community.

Check out the Beyond Beliefs trailer here:

https://vimeo.com/1088178111?fl=pl&fe=sh

And get your tickets at on the Events tab!

30/09/2026

🎬 FILM SPOTLIGHT: A Little Story About Forever

What does “forever” mean when you’re trying to explain it to your kid?

In this charming 10-minute film, father and son Max and Kip set out to write a book about forever. But Dad gets a little overwhelmed by threats like “forever chemicals” — so he calls an unlikely hero for help seeing the big picture: Mark Ruffalo.

With watercolor, humor and a little father-son wisdom, A Little Story About Forever takes on a very big subject in a wonderfully small package.

See it at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival:
- Oct. 24 | Ute Theater, R***e
- Oct. 29 | Glenwood Vaudeville Revue

🌊 River Basin Sponsor: Alpine Bank

We’re incredibly grateful to Alpine Bank for supporting the Middle Colorado Watershed Council and helping us bring Wild & Scenic back to our community for the 12th year. Their longstanding investment in our watershed and our communities helps make nights like these possible.

Get your tickets and come see what “forever” looks like on the big screen! See the trailer here:

https://vimeo.com/1144033259/1de475e1d4?fl=pl&fe=sh

And get tickets at on the Events page!

28/09/2026

The Reach - September 2026 - https://mailchi.mp/162ff1895e0d/august-9307371

23/09/2026

Inspiring words. Journalist Ali Longwell provided a great summary in today’s Post Independent of The River Ahead event, held on the CMU campus in Grand Junction last Friday.

On Colorado’s Western Slope, water managers, ranchers, producers and community leaders knew early in the year that this summer was going to be unlike any others they’ve experienced. “Things were not looking great — and...

08/09/2026

What if restoring our streams could also help us prepare for wildfire?

A news story on Aspen Public Radio explores how low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) is increasingly being recognized as a tool for both watershed health and wildfire resilience.

By restoring stream channels, reconnecting floodplains, raising water tables and increasing soil moisture, projects such as beaver dam analogs and other low-tech restoration techniques can create healthier, more resilient landscapes. Those wetter, connected systems can also provide refuge during wildfire and help capture ash and sediment after a fire.

The most exciting part? Fire practitioners, ecologists, hydrologists and watershed restoration experts are increasingly working together to identify projects that can serve multiple purposes — restoring natural ecosystems while also helping communities prepare for wildfire and recover afterward.

That integrated approach is at the heart of the work we’re doing through the Middle Colorado Watershed Council and our Colorado River Wildfire Collaborative. We’re working to connect watershed restoration, fuels management and post-fire resilience across the Colorado River corridor — because wildfire resilience isn’t just about what happens in the forest. It’s about the whole watershed.

https://www.aspenpublicradio.org/2026-08-31/watershed-restoration-process-based-restoration-wildfires-forest-service